Donald Trump and SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son jointly announced Monday that SoftBank plans to invest at least $100 billion in U.S. projects over the next four years, as the president-elect seeks to project enthusiasm over his return to power.
The Japanese internet and telecommunications company estimates that its U.S.-based investments will create 100,000 jobs focused on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies and plans to complete the work before Trump leaves office in 2029.
During an event at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private Florida club, Trump asked Son to further increase the company’s previously negotiated $100 billion investment. “Would you make it $200 billion?” Trump asked. Son paused and said, “I will try to make it happen.”
Trump took him at his word. “Alright, 200,” the president-elect said. Son, laughing, quipped, “He’s a great negotiator.”
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It is unclear how SoftBank intends to fund the commitment. The global tech investor has roughly $30 billion of cash on hand.
The commitment is a boon for the incoming Republican president, who made rejuvenating the economy a centerpiece of his presidential campaign and has said he is prepared to move swiftly on his agenda upon taking office next month. Last week, Trump said that any company that invests $1 billion or more in the U.S. would receive fast-track permitting.
The $100 billion is double what Son pledged to invest in startups following a meeting with Trump in December 2016, just after Trump’s first successful White House bid. At the time, Trump called Son “one of the great men of industry.”
The 2016 pledge came months after Son secured funding from Middle East countries for most of the SoftBank Vision Fund, a $100 billion venture capital fund. The fund—much of which was invested in the U.S.—became defined by numerous high-profile flops, such as office-space company WeWork and failed startups such as construction-focused Katerra and a robot pizza-delivery company.
That performance scared off outside investors from backing SoftBank again for a second Vision Fund—and could add a challenge if SoftBank is intending to raise outside money to fulfill the Trump commitment.
More recently Son has been eager to pump money into AI—a sector he has for years been predicting as ripe for investment—though his investments in startups have been far slower than in prior years. He has told others he aspires to also invest in areas tied to the sector such as data centers and chip manufacturing, people familiar with the conversations said.
Earlier this year he said he believes computers will possess human-level cognitive abilities known as artificial general intelligence within 2-3 years. “A gold rush of intelligence has arrived. The one who goes fastest will win,” Son said at SoftBank World 2024, a conference organized by his company. In June, SoftBank said it would form a joint venture with U.S. healthcare company Tempus AI.
Companies have at times struggled to follow through on their bold commitments to create jobs and invest in the U.S. In 2018, Trump traveled to Wisconsin for the groundbreaking of a liquid-crystal-display plant. Electronics maker Foxconn said at the time that it would invest $10 billion in the project and that it would create up to 13,000 jobs in the state. But the company later scaled back its plans, investing a fraction of the money and creating far fewer jobs than it promised.
Trump has been eager to show his clout as he returns to the White House. He has spoken to world leaders and met with leading business executives, including some who had once shied away from him. Over the weekend, Trump and his wife, Melania, hosted Akie Abe, the wife of the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at Mar-a-Lago.
